"I don't know how to answer that because in what way would his name appear?" Lee said in response to a question from Moviefone regarding the controversial exclusion.

"Well it's mentioned in every comic book; it says 'By Stan Lee and Jack Kirby'," he continued. "You're talking to the wrong guy because I have nothing to do with the credits on the movies.

"I'm credited as one of the executive producers because that's in my contract. But Jack was not an executive producer. So I don't know what he'd be credited as. Again I know nothing about that, I have nothing to do with the movie's credits."

There has been some backlash against the failure to acknowledge Kirby, with veteran creator Steve Bissette and James Sturm, co-founder of the Centre for Cartoon Studies, both calling for a boycott of the film.